Southampton Banksy Artwork Vandalised

Less than a day after it emerged that a genuine Banksy painting had been found on the wall of a private house in Southampton - it's been vandalised.

The artwork showed a boy sitting on the pavement holding a balloon, and was on a 6-foot garden wall of a house in Bevois Valley. Overnight, someone's painted over it with white paint, and the mural's now barely visible.

It was believed to be worth more than £20,000.

It's thought the artist might have painted it while he was on his way to the Isle of Wight for the Bestival back in September, but it's only recently that experts decided it was genuine after a photo of it appeared on Banksy's official website http://banksy.co.uk/

Banksy, who was born in Bristol, is famous worldwide for his artwork and grafitti but has always kept his identity secret. His celebrity fans are rumoured to include Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.